Search filters help you find the right courses faster.

In this guide: 

• Begin a search
• Understand the results
• Filter the results
• Example

If you prefer videos, see the following overview.

Begin a search

From your OpenSesame dashboard or login page, select the search bar.

The most popular searches appear. For quick results, select one. Otherwise, enter a topic.

Related searches appear first, followed by Curated Lists and individual courses. Each suggestion can be selected.

For full results, enter your topic.

Understand the results

Search results appear in a grid, with an illustrated card for each course.

• Each image was selected by the publisher to reflect course content.
• A Plus indicator appears if the course is included in the OpenSesame Plus subscription. 
• The course title, publisher, and an icon indicating the content style appear next. (For more on styles, see Filter the results.)
• A label appears if the course is New, has been Updated in the last 60 days, or is Exclusive to OpenSesame.
• A feedback rating appears, when available, followed by a seat time.
• A globe and number represent the available languages.

If you prefer a compact display, switch from the default grid to a list view.

To change the sort order, use Sort By. The default is Relevance, which uses OpenSesame algorithms to suggest good matches. You can also sort by when a course was added or updated, its rating, title, or price.

With the default sort order and display, up to three recommendation sections appear:

1. Curated Lists
2. Popular courses, based on OpenSesame ratings and usage
3. New courses

All other results follow.

The top twenty-five appear automatically. To continue browsing, select Load More.

Filter the results

To refine your results, use filters. 

If you prefer videos, see the following walkthrough.

By default, the most popular filters are expanded.

To condense them, select any filter's arrow to hide that filter.

There are many options for granular searching.

• The OpenSesame Plus toggle, which is on by default, limits results to courses included in the OpenSesame Plus subscription.
• The Customizable Courses toggle limits results to courses that can be modified. For more information, contact your OpenSesame Customer Success Manager.
• Category offers broad catalog topics. To search within a category, select it.
• Publishers limits results to specific course creators. For courses available only from OpenSesame, turn on the OpenSesame Exclusive toggle.
• Languages lets you select content languages and translations. More details follow on how this filter operates.
• Skills filters for up to 25 skills you select from the thousands found in the OpenSesame catalog. To refine your search, use the Skills search bar.
• Seat Time represents how much time the average learner needs to complete a course, according to the publisher.
• Style lets you select the formats your learners prefer, such as book summaries, games, or labs.
• Course Features lets you require popular features, such as quizzes or locked navigation.
• Competencies limits results to courses relevant to the OpenSesame Primary Competency Model.
• Product Type lets you include, exclude, or limit results to Curated Lists.
• Proficiency Levels lets you find courses for different levels of expertise: beginner (Foundation), intermediate (Application), experienced (Advanced), or all audiences (Universal).
• Accessibility Standards requires results to meet key accessibility benchmarks.
• Accreditation Organizations limits results to courses that offer Continuing Education (CE) credit hours. 
• Ratings, when available, represent feedback provided by OpenSesame learners within the course. (If you use a learning platform with its own feedback tools, feedback collected by your platform isn't shared with OpenSesame.)
• Price represents the full price of one non-subscription license to a course, if purchased individually. To access prices, switch from the default grid to a list view.

When you use multiple filters, they work together using "and." For example, selecting category X, publisher Y, and course feature Z shows courses that meet all those requirements.

The Languages filter is more flexible. With its Show All Selected toggle, you can choose whether to force a strict match.

• When the toggle is off (default), the filter uses "or" logic, expanding your search. Results include courses that support at least one translation type you select in at least one language you select.
• When the toggle is on, the filter uses "and" logic, narrowing your search to strict matches. This limits the results to only courses that support every translation type you select in every language you select.

The Languages filter uses the following translation types:

1. Course Text (default) - The primary content, such as the user interface.
2. Subtitles - Text of spoken narration.
3. Audio - Spoken narration.

At least one translation type must be selected.

How to search for popular combinations:

• Course Text only - For courses with primary content that matches your language selections, keep the default, where only Course Text is selected.
• Subtitles only - Select the Subtitles Translated type and deselect the other types.
• Audio only - Select the Audio Translated type and deselect the others.
• Subtitles and audio - Select the Subtitles and Audio types and deselect the Course Text type.

You can also filter within a language to choose specific variations, such as American English or Canadian French. If a language has variations, select its arrow to view them.

Example

A search for "management" has thousands of initial results. Using the following filters narrows the results to 57:

• Language: English
• Skill: Project Management
• Seat time: 1 hour +
• Accreditation organization: The Project Management Institute (PMI)
• Rating: Four stars or more

By default, up to three active filters follow the number of results. If you use more than three, select More to reveal them.

To remove an active filter, use its X. In this example, removing the accreditation filter increases the results to 195 courses.

If you navigate away from search results and then return, your active filters remain.

Finally, if you prefer instant course suggestions instead of manual searches, see How to use Smart Lists.

For help, contact OpenSesame Support at support@opensesame.com, use live chat, or phone support at (503) 808-1268, ext. 2 (U.S.) or +44 203 744 5541 (Europe).